Anti-corruption in crisis: 520 thousand euro and just one charge

After the Parliament passed the Law on Corruption Prevention in 2002 a special commission was formed in the country with a wide range of authorities to combat this negative phenomenon. At that time, when corruption became the biggest threat to democracy, this commission was a hope that this social evil will finally start clearing. “Do not forget, it was one of the first anti-corruption institutions in the region and...

SCOOP – Macedonia, winner of the second prize for the story “Macedonian students with the worst standards in the Balkans”

Center for Investigative Journalism SCOOP Macedonia journalist – Angela Rajchevska won the second prize “Jan Briza” at this year’s international festival of short radio and television articles and printed, that is online research stories titled “On the Record”, which took place from 26 to 28 May 2016 in Novi Sad. Rajchevska was awarded in the category of printed, that is, online research articles for the story “Macedonian students with...

Parties’ property – invisible in reports

Parties’ finances are under scrutiny of the institutions, but not as much as their property, which should be available to the public, experts comment on the SCOOP-Macedonia published story, where we published detailed title deeds of the four main parties. Although the parties claim that they regularly make inventory and submit these documents to the state institutions, however, on their web sites no annual financial statements can be seen,...

SCOOP reveals political parties’ property: from fields and pastures to luxury apartments and buildings (update)

DOCUMENTATION Shops, yards, fields, buildings, flats…This is just part of the ownership of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE, which appears as the owner of 100 title deeds where places unknown to the general public can be seen. The biggest properties owned by the party of ex-Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski are in Saraj, Kisela Voda and Centar, where VMRO-DPMNE owns buildings, apartments and pastures. Unlike them, SDSM owns far smaller property; the...

Between personal gain and public interest: are the media also to blame for the crisis?

When the government began to implement campaigns and advertise them, most of the private media in Macedonia entered the race to grab a larger share of the pie. Experts say that not only advertisements but also tenders buy media support. This situation in the Macedonian media market has raised several questions and dilemmas: Have the media become a cover for the business? Can a medium as a private property...

KEY PLAYERS IN THE MEDIA BUSINESS: WHO OWNS THE MEDIA IN MACEDONIA?

The majority in the Macedonian Parliament, without much debate and deliberation, turned down the bill on reforms in the media just days before it was dissolved. The proposal, comprised under the advice of ex-mediator Peter Vanhoutte, was expected to be seriously addressed by MPs because of their leaders’ signature of the Przino Agreement. But with the rejection of this proposal another unfulfilled obligation remained ahead of the early parliamentary...

SCANDAL: Journalists – “a security threat” to SCPC

“You are a threat to the security of the institution and cannot enter it”. This unpleasant answer was given to the team of SCOOP-Macedonia on April 6, 2016 by a person who introduced himself as the Chief Security Officer at the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption (SCPC). With this, journalists were prevented from filing a request for free access to information under the Law on Free Access to...

Macedonia most expensive in Europe for obtaining documents

Macedonia is first according to the cost of obtaining data base of all companies in the country. This is shown by the two-year research “It’s none of your business” of the NGO “Access Info Europe”, the recently released Organized Crime and Corruption Project where the NGO Centre for Investigative Journalism SCOOP-Macedonia participated. Of the 32 countries in Europe, in most countries (24), one must pay to get the data...